Seeing Clearly with “GULANI VISION”
Doctor’s Testimonials
As Dr. Gulani educates both, patients and eye surgeons worldwide, he stresses on the importance of seeing clearly on two levels:
1. For Eye Surgeons to strive for vision beyond 20/20 in their patients.
2. For patients to research your Surgeon and SEE clearly thru the advertising maze.
Vision potential in humans surely can be reached beyond 20/20 in many cases. Infact, with many patients of Dr. Gulani seeing 20/15 (one line better than 20/20) and 20/10(Two lines better than 20/20), not only do they see clear but also have encouraged Dr. Gulani to launch a slogan for eye surgeons worldwide: “ 20 /10 Vision in the year 2010”
“See Clear in Jax” has a new meaning. Having turned Jacksonville (Jax) into a Vision Destination for the world, Dr. Gulani continues to raise the bar in eye surgery both in patient care and surgeon training.
The real basis of customized surgery is in selecting the best surgery for each individual eye and then tailoring the technique for a customized vision outcome.
The limitation to this is that in most cases, Lasik surgeons know of only one or two techniques and hence the patient is not given much choice for their best surgery.
Dr. Gulani teaches Lasik surgeons the entire spectrum of vision surgery and reiterates to them to approach each eye like a camera and fix it’s optical elements for the best vision potential that patient may have.
Everyday people are turned away from Lasik eye surgery; be it they have too thinner corneas, cataracts, large pupils…the list is endless. This means every day people give up hope that they can receive the vision that they want without the aid of glasses. However, Dr Gulani, as defined by Goldline Research as one of the United States leading laser eye surgeons, offers the possibility that all is not lost.
Undoubtedly, Lasik eye surgery is one of the leading forms of eye surgery for those seeking sight without glasses and contact lenses. However, there are many criteria one must fit into before being eligible for this type of surgery. What Dr Gulani tries to emphasize is that there are nearly forty more surgeries and combinations available and the likelihood is that at least one of them will be suitable for your eyes. Nearly everyday we hear of a new advance in medicine that could revolutionize our eye care; last week we heard of the bionic eye, this week the light-adjustable lens. And all of this news provides hope to hundreds of people who suffer from various different eye diseases and injuries.
Dr. Gulani stresses that people should not give up hope at the first sign of rejection from eye surgery; if you have a thin cornea; you could instead get a contact lens placed permanently into your eye (Visian ICL). Equally, Dr. Gulani himself performed a miraculous surgery back in 2003 where he successfully restored an 75-year-old woman’s visual impairment with an artificial corneal transplant. Gulani added himself to the revolutionary list of surgeons as he used a cornea out of a polymer flown in from Australia. He described this surgery as “the future of eye surgery”.
With there being nearly forty different surgeries and combinations available, perseverance is the key in finding the right one for you. It is just a case of speaking to your optician, doctor and other eye care specialists over what surgery would be suited to you and your eyes.
This will raise the bar on safety and predictability in truly customizing your VISION.
LASIK eye surgery involves the use of the very precise (cuts 1/4th of a micron at every pulse) Excimer Laser which re-shapes the cornea (clear front window) of the eye according to the glasses prescription of the patient.
The surgery is done in minutes, with the patient awake, active and participating; only numbing drops are used in the patient’s eyes. This method provides the quickest healing and fastest results. Visual recovery is extremely fast most patients gain driving recovery by the day after surgery.
Unfortunately, these are the very reasons that this surgery has a tendency to become a commodity in many places enough to mislead the patients.
Arun C. Gulani emphasizes that Lasik is just one among 16 Laser Vision Surgeries which themselves are among 40 different Vision Corrective Surgeries (surgeries to remove glasses and contact lenses).
Thus if one understands how Vision Corrective Surgery and all 40 combinations are what all Lasik surgeons must be capable of performing and offering, it becomes easy to realize how every patient can indeed have the best surgical technique tailored to them for the safest and most predictable outcome. Vision Corrective Surgery can then change from a Commodity to an ART
Dr. Gulani has invented Lasik surgical instruments, published Lasik protocols and teaches Lasik complication management to eye surgeons all over the world. He has recently introduced a new super-specialty in Lasik called Laser Corneoplastique™ by which many of the Lasik complications can be corrected back to excellent vision.
Nevertheless he says, Prevention is the way to go!
Among a handful of eye surgeons in the world who can correct previous Lasik patients back to 20/20 vision, Dr. Gulani has summarized basically four reasons for poor outcomes in Lasik surgery:
Misleading advertising by Lasik surgeons:
• Doctors who may be new and inexperienced themselves but use the established name recognition of their more experienced, senior partners (who may have actually even retired from the practice).
• Eye surgery “Mills” that advertise the joint number of cases done by all chain centers across the nation (ie. 500,000 cases done) while their surgeon may be a novice with a high chance of causing bad outcomes.
• Doctors using celebrity testimonials (NFL sportsmen/movie stars etc). In many such cases, the doctors actually pay a hefty sum to be known as official surgeons of such celebrities. Also, they most often will do surgery for free to get an endorsement.
Lack of patient education and expectations:
• Patients are not educated about other available options since the surgeon may themselves not be capable of performing those options.
• Patients feel intimidated to ask questions about surgeon qualifications, vision expectations, side effects etc.
Cookie-Cutter surgery by Lasik surgeon “One size fits all”
• Lasik may be all that the surgeon performs. They be ignorant or incapable of performing the entire range of Laser Vision Surgeries
• Lack of knowledge, initiative or expertise in offering and performing vision surgery options if Lasik is not ideal for the patient (ie. New generation ICL surgery for Thin cornea patients who are not ideal Lasik candidates)
Poor pre-operative Technological analysis of the patient’s eye anatomy, vision and stability.
• Lack of understanding on surgeon’s part regarding interaction between, anatomy, physiology and optics of the eye to get a great vision outcome.
• Lack of technological finesse to detect early abnormalities and avoid Lasik in improper candidates
• Inability to deliver the best outcomes due to lack of modern, cutting edge equipment.
Gulani Rules For Safety In Choosing A Lasik Surgeon
• Besides visiting the surgeon’s website; do use a search engine (ie. Google/MSN/Yahoo etc) and type in the doctor’s name and see what comes up. “Do you find only a website and other paid advertising claims? Or do you find interviews, published articles and third party confirmations of the doctor’s status?”
• If your surgeon says that they are the First or that they teach other Lasik surgeons, ask for evidence. Are they first in the world, country, state or just on their street (decreasing order of importance). Do they teach at local dinner meetings that they host or are they invited to teach nationally at prestigious podiums.
• Meet with the surgeon, get a feel for the integrity and involvement of the surgeon in educating you and answering every question. Also make sure that your surgeon is contactable and that they do indeed respond when you call.
• Make sure that your surgeon will see you before surgery, perform your surgery and also see you and be available after your surgery.
• Find out if your surgeon performs the full spectrum of Laser Vision Surgery (remember Lasik is just one of many Laser Vision techniques) so they can offer what is truly best for you rather than suggesting the only surgery they know how to perform.
• Do not fall for flashy computer screens and equipment in the office; make sure that you understand all that is going on and insist on asking the surgeon to explain in layman terms.
• When meeting your surgeon, do ask about possible side-effects and complications. Ask if in the rare event that you do end up having a complication can they handle it? If the answer is yes, then ask for evidence.
Thus due diligence on part of the patient, experienced selection of individualized surgery by the surgeon and effective use of modern technology can all together raise the bar on safety and predictability in LASIK — one of the most successful surgical breakthroughs of modern times.
References:
Gulani AC, Holladay J, Belin M, Ahmed I. Future Technologies in LASIK – Pentacam Advanced Diagnostic. In Experts Review of Ophthalmology, 2010- London (in Press)
Gulani AC, Nordan L. Advances in Laser Corneoplastique: Art of Lasik Laser Vision Surgery. Mastering Corneal Collagen Cross Linking Techniques. Textbook of Ophthalmology. JP Inc. 2009; 56-63, 11.
Gulani AC. “Future Directions in Lasik” – Corneal Refractive Surgery in Video Atlas of Ophthalmic Surgery. XLV. 2008
Gulani AC. Irregular Astigmatism: Management in Unstable Cornea following LASIK Textbook of Irregular Astigmatism. Slack Inc. 2007.
Gulani AC, Probst L, Cox I, Veith R. “Wavefront in Lasik” – The Zyoptix. Platform. Ophthalmol Clin N Am 17 (2004). 173-181
Gulani AC. “A New Concept for Laser Refractive Surgery.” Ophthalmology Management 2006; 10 (4). 57-63
Gulani AC. Laser Corneoplastique. Techniques in Ophthalmology 5(1):11-20, 2007
Gulani AC. Vision Corrective Surgeries: Past Techniques, Present Trends and Future Technologies. North East Florida Medicine. 2007; 2 (58) 41-44
Gulani AC. “Laser Corneoplastique” Video Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Vol XXII. Issue 3, 2006
Gulani AC. “How to put logic into action after Lasik” – Review of Ophthalmology, 2006; XIII (9), 60-64.
Gulani AC., et al. Innovtive Real Time Illumination System for Lasik Surgery . Clin Surg Ophthalmol. 2003;6:244-246
Gulani AC. Pentacam Technology in Full Spectrum Refractive Surgery. KMSG International Conference. Madrid, Spain. June 2006.
Gulani AC. “A New Classification and Management Guide for Corneal Complications of Lasik.” Journal Canadien D’ Ophtalmologie 2000; 35 (2). 103-105
Gulani AC. “New Instrument For Revision LASIK Surgery.” Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery (JCRC), 1998; Vol 24: 595